1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for receiving data. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for dynamically tuning a radio station based on user-defined play lists.
2. Description of Related Art
Music is broadcast or transmitted to listeners through many different mediums. The traditional radio broadcast medium uses AM or FM frequencies to broadcast music for listening by users at home or in vehicles. Another medium for broadcasting music is satellite radio. Rather than broadcasting content from antennas located on the ground, signals are transmitted through a satellite, allowing listeners to hear a broadcast from a station many miles away. This radio satellite broadcast system allows a listener to receive a particular station over long distances. With traditional radio signals transmitted from ground-based sources, these types of signals may travel only 30 to 40 miles from the source. In contrast, a satellite radio signal may be broadcast across a continent. Another source of music comes from the proliferation of streaming audio websites on the Internet. A user connected to the Internet may receive programming from a radio station from anywhere on the earth. With these types of broadcast systems, a user currently has no way to control the order in which songs are received or what songs are heard. Broadcasts are sent over the different mediums in the order selected by the radio station. Thus, with any of these systems, a user is required to manually tune or connect to a radio station that plays music of the desired genre and wait to hear a particular song. Some stations provide a play list on a global website to allow users to determine when a particular song will be played. This type of information is useful, but given the large number of available stations, it is impractical for a user to visit each of the websites for each station to read play lists to identify songs that the user wants to hear. Further, it is even more impractical for a user to visit websites while operating a vehicle. Attempting to review websites for play lists provided by radio stations is impractical because of the dangers of not focusing attention on the road.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and apparatus for identifying and dynamically tuning to radio stations for broadcasts desired by a user.